means the white house wants to go over the fiscal cliff to make it a point. >> howard dean said it patti murray who ran the senator ideal committee. i think the presidency is a political victory for his party as they go over the cliff. i know republicans are concerned there is going to be a secondary session. >> the white house proposal raises taxes 1.6 trillion over a decade. republicans close loopholes and get rid of deductions. they say the mast won't work. >>> it is still out of balance. it is 800 million worth of revenues. he said he is going to do that by lowering rates. when you look at the map it doesn't work. >> the house majority with kevin mccarthy said yesterday the speaker moved to the middle by putting revenue on the table. jay carney also said the boehner plan is quote pagic beans and fair redust. >>> peter doocy, live in washington. thank you. >>> chaos in cairo. egyptian president mohammed morsi returning to the presidential palace overnight. he left amid clashes between police and 100,000 protestors. look at that. they are outraged over her recent power grab. it s

problem. >> bret: the back and forth today in the fiscal cliff negotiations that aren't really negotiations as they're not sitting in one room. today, the treasury secretary tim geithner said in an interview that there is a little bit of progress. but yes, the white house would, "absolutely go over the fiscal cliff" if the republicans would not raise tax rates. now republicans are pointing back to july 2011. this statement by president obama. >> yes, said give us $1.# trillion in additional revenues that could be accomplished without hiking tax rates, but could simply be accomplished by eliminating loopholes. eliminating deductions. and engaging in a tax reform process that could lowered rates generally while broadening the base. >> bret: the white house is saying it's out of context but not specifically how out of context. bring in the panel. steve hayes for "weekly standard." kirsten powers for daily beast. syndicated columnist, charles krauthammer. charles? >> look, i love when the president says we need conceptual break through. meaning the republicans have to accept a hike in rates. what he means is a political surrender. because there is no economic reason why you cannot raise the money he wants raised. by doing it through eliminating deductions, inclu

. we talked about being in a stalemate recently in terms of the fiscal cliff. house speaker john boehner and along with the rest of the leadership has presented an offer to the white house in a letter sent today based off something boles said to the supercommittee last year. you see the offer on the screen. 800 billion through tax reform, 600 billion in health savings, 300 billion in mandatory savings, 300 billion further discretionary savings. it nets to a total of $2.2 trillion in savings. what does it mean? in the letter we know the sticking point is the tax rates. the speaker says, quote, notably the new revenue in the boles plan would not be achieved through higher tax rates, which we continue to oppose and will not agree in order to protect small businesses and our economy. instead new revenue would be generated through pro-growth tax reforms that closes special interest loopholes and deductions while lowering rates. you see in this latest proposal while they offer up pour savings by saying, look, we can tax the rich people through the $800 billion figure. we can find more

to avoid the fiscal cliff. it is a counter offer to president obama's plan. g.o.p. lawmakers proposed raising $800 billion in revenue from tax reform, not higher tax rates, but the white house immediately slammed the offer and said it won't even consider it, and tonight speaker boehner responds to the white house response saying it's now up to the president to come up with a plan. congressman allen west joins us. good evening. >> how are you doing? >> greta: very well. the white house is unimpressed by the proposal from the speaker and the white house republicans. >> the white house needs to go back and do case studies whe. you look at presidents cool imagidgeand kennedy, they went % down to 24%. kennedy went from 91% down to 71% and they increased revenue. what we're talking about is not what the president of the united states is looking at with wealth redistribution. we're talking about wealth expansion and economic growth and sound economic policies to do that. if you want to continue to believe that 250,000 dollars makes someone rich, you're going to crush these small businesses owners that operate a subchapter s llc using their own personal income bracket. it will affect investmen

over the fiscal cliff. republicans are urging the republicans to stand against the tax increase. we are 30 days from going over the fiscal cliff . both sides are pointing fingers and blaming each one for the stalemate. but the real losers is you and me, the american taxpayer if the taxpayers can't come to a compromise. steve has more on the part of the grid lock. >> hi, uma. one month away from the critical deadline and there appears to be very little movement to a deal. the president is using the bully pulpit and appeal to the american people and pushing to extend the bush era tax cuts but those making $250,000. a year. democrats want high tax rates for the wealthy. the president stressed the urgency of the situation in the radio address. >> if congress does nothing. every family will see the income taxes go up in the beginning of next year. a family of four will see income taxes rise $2200. we can't let that happen. our families can't afford it and neither can our economy. >> but republicans say the president should quit his campaign mode and come home and take care of business. t

developments tonight related to the fiscal cliff battle being waged in washington. now, late this afternoon house speaker john boehner sent a letter to the president detailing a bold counter offer to the administration's plan. the g.o.p. proposal does not include a tax increase on the so-caldwell thee but does contain $800 billion in revenue through tax reform, another $600 billion in health savings and much more. all told, the net savings amount to around 2.2 trillion dollars. the white house responded to this letter by saying that the president is, quote, willing to compromise but not on the subject of making job creators pay more in taxes. however, what our tax and spend commander-in-chief fails to understand is that putting money into the hands of you, the american people, is the single best way to spur economic growth, and it's not just people like ronald reagan who understand this principle. bill clinton famously said the era of big government is over and the end of wel welfare as we know it. why? because government is not the answer. government is the problem. there was that other iconic democrat,

on terror winding down? first, though, the fiscal cliff looms ever nearer, the house speaker, among many others, sounding very pessimistic today. are we headed over the edge? and after the election in a bruising defeat, what's next for the republican party? we'll talk to one top outgoing gop senator. good sunday afternoon to you, you are watching msnbc, the place for politics. there are no signs right now of a break in the deadlocked talks to avert the so-called fiscal cliff, the devastating combinations of tax increase and spending cuts that kick in january 1st. both sides seem to dig in this morning on the sunday talk shows. >> the only thing standing in the way of that would be a refusal by republicans that the rates would have to go up on the wealthiest americans, and i don't really see them doing it. >> right now, i would say we're nowhere, period, we're nowhere. >> that somber assessment today from house speaker john boehner, as geithner, the point man, went on all five sunday talk shows, cnbc, washington correspondent aman javers joining me live now. did geithner offer anythi

consequence of this, the economic consequence of this and by this i mean going over the fiscal cliff will be significant , but what i don't %-effort, either self delusion r misrepresentation of the facts. you all, as republicans control the house of representatives. as we saw during the debt ceiling discussions in 2011, it is not a pretty perch from which to take on the bully pulpit of the presidency. >> but i think what we need to do is not get caught ii the trap of the compromise is raising taxes. i think there are many other compromises you could have. for example, i think one compromises we could save some money and military spending even though i think that is the most important -- lou: 55 billion? >> absolutely. i think we could..3 a think we could also say that,3 you know what, the ridge could pay more for their medicare. the rich could receive less for their social security. those are compromises i presented directly to the president a year-and-a-half ago, and he has done zero. his party has done zero. they are hell bent on let's go soak there race. lou: with all respect, have you had this discussion with your party? what are they saying? those are rational and effective ideas. >> there are some in our party will except t

hasn't happened. >> steve: okay. so the fiscal cliff is looming. there are a the lo of people who say the republicans need to stand together and if the president isn't gog deal fairly and offer up some spending cuts and talk about entitlement reform, the republicans need to be willing to hole hands and jump off the fiscal cliff with the president. are you ready? >> we would prefer that didn't happen. there are a lot of bad outcomes. you got a lot of analysis that's been done, ernst says if we go over the fiscal cliff or raise taxes it will cost us over 700,000 jobs, reduce economic growth, lower take home pay, all those things. that's a bad scenario. the president has made it very clear, tim geithner, his treasury secretary said a couple days ago, absolutely we're ready to go over the cliff. republicans don't think that's the solution. but i do think that if he gets what he wants, he gets higher taxes, he gets defense cuts, if we go over the cliff. so i don't think there is a lot of incentive on the president's part right now to be at the table to make a deal, which is why he's not ve

to be at an icy impasse over the so-called fiscal cliff. this is hours after the white house rejected the counteroffer. >> while their proposal may be serious, it's also a nonstarter. they know any agreement that raise tax on the middle class in order to protect more unnecessary giveaways, the top 2% s. doomed from the start. it won't pass. democrats won't agree to it. president obama wouldn't sign such a bill and the american people won't support it. >> you don't get people together until they finally sit down at the table and negotiate. it's still too much posturing, still too much the president wants his way, somebody else wants it that way. >> the gop's opening bid includes $2.2 trillion in tax reform, entitlement reform. but here's the problem, it includes no tax hike for the top 2% that republicans must have and something that the president repeated on the campaign trail. >> the obstacle here continues to be republicans who hold out hope that we can somehow go through this process and still deliver tax cuts to millionaire and billionaires. and that's just not going to happen. >>

increases to head off the fiscal cliff, a move that didn't impress the white house even as it spawned a rebellion on the right." so are republicans going to have to give on raising rates? >> no. we're not, because where the president is focused in on is the affordable care act taxes they increase january the 1st on people making $200,000 or more. the president wants a rate increase coming in january on people making $200,000 or more and go into next year's negotiations on reforming the tax code and he's looking at a single year time period to have three tax increases on the same group of folks, we're saying that's dramatic on the economy, that will slow down development of our economy in a time we're looking to increase more jobs, why would we do this? how does this stimulate the economy and how does it solve the debt? the president's proposal is $160 billion of new taxes a year on a $1 trillion problem. we've got to get to the spending side. >> let me play for you what the president said about this. >> unfortunately, the speaker's proposal right now is still out of balance. he talks

away from falling off the so-called fiscal cliff. president obama says is he ready to act. >> there are no shortage of pens in the white house. and i carry one around for an emergency just in case. >> here is the thing, will congress sign on the president's budget proposal all about more taxes and spending some folks say? >> and frosty and santa are front and center. why is one school in florida hiding baby jesus in the closet? the war on christmas is back, clayton. it's back. >> say it ain't so, joe. first the twinkie, now bazooka joe, juliet. >> no, no, no. >> after 60 years, say good by to bazooka joe. >> nobody will miss that horrible gum. >> it's amazing. >> how could you say it's bad? >> it can good gum. debating the merits of the gum. "fox & friends" in for juliet huddy. the gum that used to come in the tops cards. remember how terrible that stuff was. >> once you get past the stale and hard rock like substance it turns into a flavorful. >> i agree it is delicious. >> more on that plus ugly christmas sweaters this morning. county guys from ugly christmas sweater party.com top. i think they can. i brought mine this morning.

avoid the fiscal cliff. >> unfortunately the speaker's proposal right now is still out of balance. >> reporter: the speaker's plan would raise $800 billion in tax revenue. but does so without raising tax rates for top income earners. the president says that's unacceptable. >> we're going to have to see the rates on the top 2% go up. and we're not going to be able to get a deal without it. >> reporter: republicans, like rising star senator marco rubio, say raising taxes on the wealthy is the wrong approach. >> the tax increases he wants would fail to make even a small dent in the debt. it would hurt middle-class businesses and the people who work for them. >> reporter: so, that's the major holdup, taxes. republicans and democrats deeply divided. >> there's nothing going on privately that's not going on public. >> reporter: amidst the political posturing, there may actually be a chance for compromise on medicare. president obama says he's open to raising the age when seniors can start receiving benefits, from 65 to 67. according to one study, that would save almost $6 billion a year

nowherep. just 28 days left and fiscal cliff talks are at a standstill over taxes and entitlements. >> they must have forgotten that republicans have continued to hold the majority in the house. but, you know, the president's idea of a negotiation is roll over and do what i ask. we need to find common ground and we need to find it quickly. >> could the only thing standing in the way of that would be a refusal by republicans to accept rates have to go up on the wealthiest americans and i don't really see them doing that. >> thank you very much. mr. president. >> meanwhile as nato prepares to deploy patriot missile defenses to turkey, hillary clinton warns syria against moving its chemical weapons. >> this is a red line for the united states. i'm not going to telegraph in any specifics what we are would do in the event of credible evidence that the assad regime has resorted to using chemical weapons against their own people, but suffice it to say, we are certainly planning to take action if that eventuality were to occur. >> and while washington buzzes over this video tribute to clinton, some are asking is it a farewell to the secretary or prelude to 2016? honoring the icons. polit

four-year low. the timing is interesting, obviously, just as we're learning that fiscal cliff negotiations are now a party of two, the president and the speaker. the "new york times" reporting that house speaker john boehner wants to speak only to president obama out of public view. though we've just learned that boehner is holding a news conference at 11:00 this morning eastern time. the fight, though, still very public. vice president joe biden is meeting with a middle class family. and yesterday president obama met with a virginia family. tax hikes for the rich are nonnegotiable. >> just to be clear, i'm not going to sign any package that somehow prevents the top rate from going up for folks at the top 2%. but i do remain optimistic that we can get something done that is for families like this one. >> joining me now is barry, msnbc political contributor and editor for grio. hello, guys. >> perry, i'm wondering if these new unemployment numbers add to the president's leverage? >> i think they do. the big thing is the election. but the jobs numbers suggest that the economy is doing well and it cuts against the republican argument that raising taxes on the rich with would hurt the economy and

the fiscal cliff. >> no substantive progress has been made in the talks between the white house and the house over the last two weeks. so right now all eyes are on the white house. the country doesn't need a victory lap. it needs leadership. >> speaker boehner said the president needs to get serious about what spending cuts he's willing to make. but that was news to senate majority leader harry reid. >> he says that democrats have got to get serious about cuts, spending cuts. where is the disconnect then? >> i don't understand his brain, so you should ask him, okay? >> he's not alone. all this comes as treasury secretary tim geithner held separate meetings today with boehner, reid, nancy pelosi, and mitch mcconnell, and over at the white house spokesman jay carney said the debt ceiling should not be a pawn in any kind of fiscal gamesmanship. >> asking for a -- that a political price be paid in order for congress to do its job to ensure that the united states of america pays its bills and does not default for the first time in its history is deeply irresponsible. >> now, if you're se

>>> i'm thomas robertson for tamron hall on assignment. the political theater over the fiscal cliff. treasury secretary tim geithner is on capitol hill right now set to meet with nancy pelosi in less than an hour. earlier today geithner met behind closed doors with house speaker john boehner, senate majority leader harry reid and frank mcconnell. the word he used to describe the overall negotiations, disappointing. >> no substantive progress has been made in the talks between the white house and the house over the last two weeks. listen, this is not a game. jobs are on the line. the american economy is on the line. and this is a moment for adult leadership. campaign style rallies and one-sided leaks in the press are not the way to get things done here in washington. >> democrats today said they're confident a deal can be reached by christmas. but admit negotiations would need to pick up steam. as for senator reid, he says it's now up to the gop to make the next move. >> we're still waiting for a serious offer from the republicans. the president has made his proposal. we need a proposal from them. >> okay. let's dig in and bring in nbc's capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell. fill us in on how the meetings are going so far. last but not least, nancy pelos

plan to avoid the fiscal cliff. but republican house speaker john boehner dismisses it as, and i'm quoting, la la land. the republicans offered their proposal, that happened about 24 hours ago. the white house quickly labels it as nothing new. business as usual, right? so how do we move beyond this stalemate in washington? we heard from the president, just a short time ago. our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin joins me now, jessica, the president spoke out, sat down in an interview with bloomberg tv, and in listening to the interview, did you hear any clues toward a possible compromise here? >> reporter: not new clues, brooke. the president laid down the marker that we heard from the white house consistently, which is they aren't moving until they hear the republicans agree to raise tax rates on the wealthiest. listen to what the president had to say. >> i think that, you know, we have the potential of getting a deal done, but it is going to require what i talked about during the campaign, which is a balanced responsible approach to deficit reduction that can help giv

president can meet one-on-one to work out a fiscal cliff compromise. that's according to the new york sometimes. the report also says everyone is on board with the idea. america goes off the fiscal cliff in 25 days triggering massive tax hikes and spending c cuts. >>> no sign of president obama, the first lady, sash has or malia, this year it's all about bo. the card was designed by iowa artist and dog lover lorissa cable. >>> a holiday surprise for some walmart shoppers in south florida. secret santas paid off their layaway bills. >> my layaway is paid? >> yep. the rest of your balance is paid off. >> are you serious? >> yes, very serious. you no longer own a balance. >> tell santa thank you very much! >> an athletic club pitched in $500 which helped six families. several layaway shoppers say they wish they could meet their secret santas to give them a hug and kiss and say thank you. >>> time for your early reads. your local news making national headlines. we begin with tacoma's news tribune which says day one of legalized marijuana was pretty chill. there were no run on doritos

washington, now, for the latest on the fiscal cliff. just 28 days until everyone's taxes are set to go up. house republicans have now sent the white house their own plan for getting america's finances under control. but both sides still far apart. abc's jake tapper is covering this from the white house. jake, the white house downplayed this new offer but will it be enough to jump-start negotiations? >> reporter: i don't think so, george. the white house advisers describe the proposal that republicans offered yesterday, as a step backward in terms of negotiations. what the outlying house republican states is $2.2 trillion in deficit reduction. that includes 1.2 trillion in spending cuts. $800 billion in new revenue. optimistic projections. and $200 billion in other measures, such as adjusting the consumer price index. but house republicans say if the president doesn't like this, it's incumbent upon him to offer a plan that can make it through the house and the senate. >> the white house says they want to see the republicans first say that tax rates are going to go up. is there any prospect of a face-to-face

house speaker john boehner chatting by phone about the fiscal cliff. no details or word of progress or future talks with just 26 days remaining to get a deal done. another prominent republican is breaking ranks. tom coburn, a leading conservative and fiscal hawk saying he'd prefer raising taxes on the wealthy as a way to raise revenues. >>> a bitter turf war between twitter and instagram elle cl escalating. no one on twitter will be able to see the images posted on instagram. instagram's goal is getting people to post more photos on their site. >>> a man cannot have any more children until he shows proof that he can actually afford those children. 44-year-old corey curtis is charged with failure to support two of the nine children that he's fathered with six women. he owes $85,000 and says he is ready to abide by the judge's order. >> good idea. >> all right. the grammy nominations announced in style with a star-studded concert, jay z and kanye west were among the six artists tied for the most nominations, six apiece. the grammy awards ceremony, music's biggest night will be held in

facing a costly fall off that fiscal cliff. if there is no deal in 26 days, we're facing devastating tax hikes and spending cuts and a possible relapse into recession. the president and house speaker john boehner broke the ice yesterday. they did speak by telephone. the two sides keeping details of their discussion under wraps. and still standing firm on tax hikes for the top 2%. >> the revenues we're putting on the table are going to come from, guess who? the rich. >> once republicans acknowledge that rates are going up for top earners, we believe that an agreement is very achievable. >> kate balduan is live from washington. kate, do we have anymore details on that phone call? >> i mean, i think we can take from it the fact that there's been so little negotiating going on and so little movement. it's significant of itself that these two top negotiators have even spoken on the phone. this is the first time they've spoken on the phone, or as far as we know, spoken at all, in a week. but there are no real indications of a readout from those phone calls and no indication of any real progress. we are still a long way from a deal. all indications are that both the speaker and the presi

than that picture, too. >> i think so. >>> the latest on that fiscal cliff. everyone's taxes set to go up in just 27 days if congress and the white house can't strike a deal. and publicly, at least, president obama is taking a harder line with every day that goes by. abc's jake tapper is covering it all from the white house. and it's clear that president obama believes he has the upper hand here. >> reporter: he sure does, george. and later today, president obama will speak to corporate executives at the business roundtable. and he'll try to enlist their help in his negotiations with congressional republicans. and his latest demand, that congress remove its own power as it stands right now, to raise the debt ceiling. it is a bold gambit that congressional republicans are already calling a non-starter. paul ryan stepped back into the spotlight late tuesday, with a feisty shot at the president. >> i congratulate him on his victory. but on january 20th, he'll face a stagnant economy and a fiscal mess. you might even say he'll inherit these problems. >> reporter: there's a lot of bah humbug in washington, d.c. these days. 'tis the season to be s

. >> too many pockets, i guess. >>> now, the stalemate in washington over the fiscal cliff. everyone's taxes are set to go up in just over a month if congress and the white house fail to reach a deal. and the talks blew up yesterday, after republicans dismissed the latest offer from secretary tim geithner. just listen to house speaker john boehner and senate majority leader, harry reid. >> listen this is not a game. jobs are on the line. the american economy is on the line. and this is a moment for adult leadership. >> i don't understand his brain. so, you should ask him. okay? >> tough words there. abc's jon karl is covering this all from capitol hill. jon, as we said, senate republican leader mitch mcconnell says he laughed out loud at geithner's offer. break down the offer from the white house and the republican objections. >> reporter: not only did he laugh out loud, the speaker saying it's unrealistic. the key is $1.6 trillion in tax increases over the next ten years. $50 billion in additional stimulus spending. $400 billion in medicare cuts. but unspecified over the next ten years. and effectively ending congress' ability to vote on the debt limit. an unlimit